Engineered Plastics "Smoltem" Pocket Inkball Pen - Ultem/Peek/Black Ultem
Natural Ultem, Black Ultem and Peek
After launching the Engineered Plastics series in the full sized model I realized that it would be really nice to make our signature "pocket pen" out of these materials. Instead of redesigning the fantastic eyedropper friendly grip sections from the first Engineered Plastics pens, I decided to build on that foundation.
This enabled me to create this pen as a Pocketable Eyedropper that also takes short international cartridges like our best known pen, the Pocket Six.
Similarly I heard that people would like bigger pens from us. Noted! This small pen when posted is actually the second biggest Schon DSGN pen to date! The overall length is 138.5mm (full specs below) and the diameter of the body is a much lager 14.2mm. Funny how this pocket pen can be so big... but I love that about our pocket pens. Long live the screw post!
O-Rings
Let's get down to details - much like its Full Sized predecessor, this pen has an O-ring in the cap for a smooth closing action and leak proof seal. It is jam packed with O-rings in the section to create a strong pen for eyedropper use, filling the pen body with ink rather than using a cartridge. Here's a video about how to eyedropper a pen, why/why not, etc. Be sure to have some silicon grease handy as it makes the process much smoother and keeps the seals happy!
The o-rings will keep the pen sealed, so excessive tightening of the section to body and cap to body is discouraged as it may damage or deform parts.
Inkball Tip
Each pen comes with a removable Inkball tip, available in .5mm and .7mm sizes. Inkball tips and grips are available here.
Grips
I made a #8 (Bock 380) grip section for this pen in Black and Natural Ultem and that can be purchased here if you want to provide your own Bock 380 nib for the pen
Mix and Match #6 sections in black and amber can be purchased here.
What is Ultem?
The material Ultem aka PEI (Polyetherimide) is able to be machined thinner than most acrylic pens and yet will be stronger than acrylic to resist accidental drops or mishaps. I love Ultem as I started my career before pens making scientific instruments out of this material. Plus it has the cool yellow/amber color in its natural form. Peek is another very cool engineered plastic so I also so I made this design in Peek.
Specs
Capped length - 94mm(3.70”)Uncapped length, cap unposted, nib to back - 87.3mm (3.43”)
Uncapped length, cap posted, nib to back - 138.5mm (5.45”)
Grip diameter min - 10.2mm (.40”)
Grip diameter max - 11.2mm (.44”)
Body/Cap diameter - 14.2mm (.558”)
Weight - .4 oz or 11 grams
Ink Capacity - .8ml (short cartridge) or 1.7ml (eyedropper)
Cleaning
What chemicals can I use to clean this pen? Soap and water or Alcohol is fine on this material for deep cleaning.
What chemicals should I not use? Windex and cleaners with Ammonia based chemistry. It has been brought to my attention that some pen flush has ammonia - use that only on the nib/feed. It is easy to unscrew the nib unit from the grip for cleaning purposes.
FAQ:
Are the grips interchangeable between the engineered plastics pens?
Yes! But the felt tip section does not work in this pen since the body is too short, the rest work!
Are the caps interchangeable between the engineered plastics pens?
These new caps will fit on the old editions (and can be used to get some extra length inside there for some modified or longer nibs, especially Bock380 or #8 nibs) but the older caps will not fit on the new pens as the tolerances are different.
What is the ink capacity for eyedropper?
Ink Capacity - .8ml (short cartridge) or 1.7ml (eyedropper)
Do the Magna Carta nibs fit inside these pens?
I have fit one, but buyer beware, some of their housings have poor tolerances and are not fitting inside of my grips as they are oversized compared to the Bock380. Some of this is due to the fact that the housings are ebonite and can deform significantly when the nib is assembled inside of its housing (effectively making the housing a triangle shape vs round). Rather than remaking my grips to be bigger (they need to be tight for good eyedropper use with a Bock 380!) I am just putting out this word of caution. Second, some of the nibs are assembled with the nib sticking very far out of the housing. These will need to be reassembled properly so the nib sticks out the correct amount and it will fit. This takes some skill so tread carefully or ask for help! I am excited about these nibs and hope they address these quality issues in the future.
Natural Ultem, Black Ultem and Peek
After launching the Engineered Plastics series in the full sized model I realized that it would be really nice to make our signature "pocket pen" out of these materials. Instead of redesigning the fantastic eyedropper friendly grip sections from the first Engineered Plastics pens, I decided to build on that foundation.
This enabled me to create this pen as a Pocketable Eyedropper that also takes short international cartridges like our best known pen, the Pocket Six.
Similarly I heard that people would like bigger pens from us. Noted! This small pen when posted is actually the second biggest Schon DSGN pen to date! The overall length is 138.5mm (full specs below) and the diameter of the body is a much lager 14.2mm. Funny how this pocket pen can be so big... but I love that about our pocket pens. Long live the screw post!
O-Rings
Let's get down to details - much like its Full Sized predecessor, this pen has an O-ring in the cap for a smooth closing action and leak proof seal. It is jam packed with O-rings in the section to create a strong pen for eyedropper use, filling the pen body with ink rather than using a cartridge. Here's a video about how to eyedropper a pen, why/why not, etc. Be sure to have some silicon grease handy as it makes the process much smoother and keeps the seals happy!
The o-rings will keep the pen sealed, so excessive tightening of the section to body and cap to body is discouraged as it may damage or deform parts.
Inkball Tip
Each pen comes with a removable Inkball tip, available in .5mm and .7mm sizes. Inkball tips and grips are available here.
Grips
I made a #8 (Bock 380) grip section for this pen in Black and Natural Ultem and that can be purchased here if you want to provide your own Bock 380 nib for the pen
Mix and Match #6 sections in black and amber can be purchased here.
What is Ultem?
The material Ultem aka PEI (Polyetherimide) is able to be machined thinner than most acrylic pens and yet will be stronger than acrylic to resist accidental drops or mishaps. I love Ultem as I started my career before pens making scientific instruments out of this material. Plus it has the cool yellow/amber color in its natural form. Peek is another very cool engineered plastic so I also so I made this design in Peek.
Specs
Capped length - 94mm(3.70”)Uncapped length, cap unposted, nib to back - 87.3mm (3.43”)
Uncapped length, cap posted, nib to back - 138.5mm (5.45”)
Grip diameter min - 10.2mm (.40”)
Grip diameter max - 11.2mm (.44”)
Body/Cap diameter - 14.2mm (.558”)
Weight - .4 oz or 11 grams
Ink Capacity - .8ml (short cartridge) or 1.7ml (eyedropper)
Cleaning
What chemicals can I use to clean this pen? Soap and water or Alcohol is fine on this material for deep cleaning.
What chemicals should I not use? Windex and cleaners with Ammonia based chemistry. It has been brought to my attention that some pen flush has ammonia - use that only on the nib/feed. It is easy to unscrew the nib unit from the grip for cleaning purposes.
FAQ:
Are the grips interchangeable between the engineered plastics pens?
Yes! But the felt tip section does not work in this pen since the body is too short, the rest work!
Are the caps interchangeable between the engineered plastics pens?
These new caps will fit on the old editions (and can be used to get some extra length inside there for some modified or longer nibs, especially Bock380 or #8 nibs) but the older caps will not fit on the new pens as the tolerances are different.
What is the ink capacity for eyedropper?
Ink Capacity - .8ml (short cartridge) or 1.7ml (eyedropper)
Do the Magna Carta nibs fit inside these pens?
I have fit one, but buyer beware, some of their housings have poor tolerances and are not fitting inside of my grips as they are oversized compared to the Bock380. Some of this is due to the fact that the housings are ebonite and can deform significantly when the nib is assembled inside of its housing (effectively making the housing a triangle shape vs round). Rather than remaking my grips to be bigger (they need to be tight for good eyedropper use with a Bock 380!) I am just putting out this word of caution. Second, some of the nibs are assembled with the nib sticking very far out of the housing. These will need to be reassembled properly so the nib sticks out the correct amount and it will fit. This takes some skill so tread carefully or ask for help! I am excited about these nibs and hope they address these quality issues in the future.